Sports Big Business No. 2846, welcome to pay attention to the leading sports industry information platform
Wen | Zhuang Tour
Sports big business reporter
"I can't express my feelings in words, I just want to say that I did it!" After successfully scoring 1 point with a score of 10th place, Zhou Guanyu wrote on Weibo after the game.
After successfully scoring points on his F1 debut, Zhou Guanyu was still calm in front of the camera, but it was difficult to hide his excitement between words. The history of Chinese F1, rewritten in Bahrain, will be a moment worth remembering forever for Chinese car fans.
And Zhou Guanyu once surpassed the performance of the "Seven Champions" Hamilton, which was even more talked about by car fans, and also successfully achieved "breaking the circle".
On Weibo, the entry of "Zhou Guanyu F1 debut score" rushed to the hot search, and the cumulative reading volume exceeded 100 million. Although the Shanghai station has not been able to return for the time being, the "F1 year" of Chinese car fans has been successfully opened with a historic 1 point.
The debut unlocked China's first point, and Zhou Guanyu smashed the doubt
Although it is only 1 point, it is not an easy task for Zhou Guanyu, who has just entered the F1 arena. As a rookie player, the first test is to finish the game, and being able to successfully score points is an "unexpected surprise".
Bahrain finally ranked in the top ten
For comparison, Mick Schumacher, the son of Schumacher, who is also highly regarded among young drivers, once defeated Zhou Guanyu in F2 and won the F2 season championship. But Schumacher Jr. failed to earn points for the entire debut season in 2021 after joining Haas for F1.
However, long before the official conquest of F1, Zhou Guanyu was already changing the history of Chinese racing. In September 2020, at F2 Russia, Zhou Guanyu won the first F2 race of his career, and thus became the first Chinese driver in the history of F2 to win the championship.
Zhou Guanyu was in line for the 15th departure
Last season's F2 ranking 3rd in the annual standings, as well as the results in the pre-season training matches, show that Zhou Guanyu has the strength to compete in F1. In qualifying, Zhou Guanyu took the 15th place in the starting line. In the main competition, accompanied by a series of exciting transcendences, Zhou Guanyu completed the scoring on his debut and created history again.
Zhou Guanyu did not start well, once falling to the 19th position. But then, Zhou Guanyu began to surpass himself, surpassing Latifi, Norris, Stroor, Hockenberg, Mick Schumacher in a row to reach 14th place.
On lap 12, Zhou Guanyu completed a strong overtaking of Hamilton, who had just changed his tyres, and although he was subsequently regained by Hamilton, he was still talked about by Chinese fans.
In the second half of the race, Zhou Guanyu basically maintained the 12th-13th place, and as the race was nearing the end, the suspense resumed, Gasley triggered a virtual safety car, and then Red Bull Racing's Verstappen and Perez reported vehicle failures and ultimately failed to finish. And Zhou Guanyu's ranking has also come to the top 10.
As the only "rookie" of the 20 drivers this season, although some tracks have also been contacted by Zhou Guanyu in the F2 period, the intensity of the race is still not the same as that of F1, which shows the rare and valuable debut of 10th place.
At the beginning of joining the Alfa Romeo team last year, Zhou Guanyu was questioned by some "bringing funds into the group", and in an interview before the start of the new season, Zhou Guanyu said, "The only thing I can do is to do what I like and complete my dreams." Now I have fulfilled my dream, but I hope that in F1 I will not only compete, but continue to win glory for Chinese. Getting the first point is my little goal. So I'm very much looking forward to the season. Since I became the first Chinese driver to compete, in my heart, I hope to continue to win glory for my country. ”
And with the success of F1's first stop to prove himself, Zhou Guanyu also shattered the doubts of the outside world.
Suspense abounds, F1 warms up
With the surprise of "Chinese F1 first points" brought by Zhou Guanyu, the heat recovery of F1 may have just begun.
In November 2021, Zhou Guanyu announced his signing with Alfa Romeo Racing and became the number two driver. But F1's attention at home has not increased rapidly. So much so that before the Bahrain race, many netizens were still concerned about "where to watch the game".
At present, Shanghai Five Star Sports has a live broadcast of F1 matches, but for non-Shanghai car fans, they need to pay to open a membership to watch the game. At the same time, TV channels such as Guangdong Sports also have F1 copyrights, and TV channels generally broadcast qualifying and regular matches. However, in this season's opening game in Bahrain, due to the conflict between the schedule and other events, Guangdong Sports did not broadcast F1 live.
With the start of the season's first game in Bahrain, in the practice and qualifying stages, the number of followers of F1 has been increasing, and with the debut of Zhou Guanyu in the main competition, the number of followers of F1 has once again reached a small climax.
"Zhou Guanyu F1 debut score" once topped the Weibo hot search list
For the Alfa Romeo team and F1 official, Zhou Guanyu is undoubtedly a key figure in activating the Chinese market. And Zhou Guanyu himself is also full of love and honor for his hometown Shanghai and the motherland. In a recent interview, Zhou Guanyu repeatedly mentioned "winning glory for the motherland" and "hoping that his hometown will get better and better.".
In addition to the performance on the field, zhou Guanyu's competition helmet is also eye-catching , with full of Chinese elements and Shanghai elements: the top of the head is a blue and white porcelain pattern and Zhou Guanyu's name, the back has a five-star red flag pattern, and the side is a Shanghai Lujiazui and Oriental Pearl pattern. Among the F1 peripheral goods, Zhou Guanyu's related peripherals are expected to gain great attention this season.